SC calls Kerala govt guidelines for CBSE affiliation ‘arbitrary’

Some school managements in the state had approached the High Court against the guidelines issued by the state in October 2011 for granting NOC to new schools for affiliation to CBSE and for existing schools for renewal of affiliation under the CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said “good quality education” for children between the age of 6 and 14 years was a “fundamental right”.

Calling the “mushroom growth of CBSE schools” in Kerala an indication that public education system in the state left “something to be desired in terms of the quality”, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a state government’s plea challenging a High Court order striking down the conditions for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliation as “arbitrary”.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said “good quality education” for children between the age of 6 and 14 years was a “fundamental right”.

“Regulation of such education is permissible by law and not by executive fiat. Unfortunately, in this batch of petitions, the State of Kerala seeks to impose its authority over schools that provide apparently quality education, which is perceived to be a threat to the public education system in the State,” the bench said while dismissing petitions filed by the state government challenging the September 14, 2012 order of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court.

Some school managements in the state had approached the High Court against the guidelines issued by the state in October 2011 for granting no objection certificates (NOC) to new schools for affiliation to CBSE and for existing schools for renewal of affiliation under the CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws.

Disagreeing with the 2011 Kerala guidelines, the Supreme Court said, “Unfortunately, Kerala has not even thought of providing any such flexibility. It appears to us that the rigid requirement of Kerala indicates that it is imposed upon the schools that seek affiliation with the CBSE only with a view to unnecessarily burden them with an onerous and arbitrary condition.”

In a counter affidavit filed before the High Court, the state said the restrictions had been put in place on CBSE schools to prevent their mushrooming growth, which would affect the public education system in the state.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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